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Most people might think of a shower as a daily ritual that is equal parts hygiene and relaxation: as soap bubbles and cascades down both body and drain, the warm water eases both muscle and mind in its heated caress. However, a small amount of scientific and medical research has hinted that cold water showers have several health and environmental benefits.... Read more »

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A male kangaroo’s forearm size could be a sexually selected trait and help them find a mate, a new study has found.

In fact, male kangaroos frequently adopt poses to show off their muscly arms to females, the authors have said.

The study, conducted by researchers from Murdoch University and Curtin University and published in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, centred on data gained from dissecting 13 grey kangaroo males and 15 females.

Each forelimb was dissected and the weight relationships between the individual muscle mass and body mass were examined.... Read more »

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In our lab we have a phone that rings several times a day. The conversation is always the same. A man from somewhere in the UK (where I’m from) is desperate to know the answer to one question: “Am I a Viking?”

An answer we could give is: “No. You don’t have a boat or a sword. You’re not a Viking.” But what they really want to know is whether their DNA points to a Scandinavian ancestry.

Maybe they could find some food for thought in a paper published in the journal PLOS Biology, which recently caught the attention of the mainstream media due to its supposedly surprising conclusion that Europeans shared common ancestors in the past 1,000 years. But re-examining this claim when you know a little about population genetics, makes it a subtle and more interesting phenomenon, but also a much less surprising one.... Read more »

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he display of a frozen mammoth in Japan has again raised questions as to the possibility of creating a live born clone of extinct animals.

Theoretically, mammoths could be cloned by recovering, reconstructing or synthesizing viable mammoth DNA and injecting it into the egg cell of a modern elephant whose nuclear DNA has been removed; alternatively, mammoth genetic material could be introduced into an elephant genome in order to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid or chimera.

This raises an ethical question as to whether we should start the journey down one of these paths.... Read more »

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Oxytocin, sometimes called ”The Love Hormone“, has emerged over the past decade as somewhat of a magical substance. It has been known for some time to be central in mother-child bonding in animals, but more recently has been implicated in human behaviors, like increasing trust in strangers. The excitement over oxytocin has encouraged scientists to better understand its effects and some studies have recently revealed a “dark side” to oxytocin, like increased anxiety.... Read more »

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For more than a decade, studies have reported a drop in the numbers of pollinator species, such as bees and butterflies, but so far computer models have predicted that plant communities would be able to recover from this cutback. However, it turns out that losing just a single bumblebee species can have a dramatic impact on plant reproduction, by changing how remaining pollinators react, says a study published in PNAS.

“I had been sceptical of the computer models that predict strong resilience of plant communities to pollinator species losses for some time”, said Dr Berry Brosi, ecologist from Emory University and first author in the study. “I was particularly dubious of the assumption that there will be no change in the interactions between plants and pollinators when you lose species from the system.”... Read more »

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This is part 2 of my 4-part series about studying gender bias in science (See part 1). For studies using existing data, we look at information that is already available, and learn from the information through data analysis. The difficulty in these studies is that because you are not in control of how the information […]... Read more »

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The DNA of Albert Perry may change the story of human origins. Perry, an African-American, approached a DNA testing company to find out more about his ancestry. The results would have come as quite a surprise (had he lived to see them), and have raised questions for geneticists around the world.

It turns out that Perry carried a very different type of Y chromosome, never seen before. Every male has a Y chromosome, which is a piece of DNA inherited by sons from their fathers. But, unlike most DNA, the Y chromosome is not shuffled as it is passed down, and changes only slowly through mutation. Tracking these mutations allows scientists to create a genetic tree of fathers and sons going back through time.... Read more »

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Strange as it may seem, water doesn’t actually freeze at zero degrees. In fact, even at temperatures as cold as -10°C, water still needs help turning into ice. Living creatures of all stripes have learned to take advantage of this curious fact in different ways, though none have done so with quite as much style as bacteria.... Read more »

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The famous paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould once asked what would happen if we were to ‘replay the tape of life’. How different or similar would it turn out? He himself thought it could be profoundly different. In other words, in his view evolution is unrepeatable.

However, instances of convergent evolution, where organisms of a different pedigree can evolve to look surprisingly similar, have caused some to ask whether there might not be somewhat predictable patterns or trends in the grand process that is evolution. Just think of a tuna (fish), dolphin (mammal), and ichthyosaur (reptile). Look quite similar, don’t they?... Read more »

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n a paper published in March 2013, Drs. Rohan, Heo, Choi and colleagues have examined the relationship between body fat and the risk for development of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. ... Read more »

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The road to market for a promising new therapy can be notoriously long and treacherous. Before the first small-scale clinical trials in humans can even be contemplated, a new therapy (such as a drug or surgical procedure) must first pass muster in preclinical animal studies.... Read more »

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Hi Julie, I loved hearing from Clare Browne about her research into timing of reinforcement in our first guest post last week, and it certainly stimulated lots of great comments and questions on Facebook and Google+. I know you've been busy Chaser-ing around (lucky ducks, both!) and there's also all those amazing conferences happening this week, what with the ISAZ, IAHAIO and AVSAB events on in Chicago, so just a very quick post from me this week! You know how we recently put together out list of top ten books for the Science Book a Day team? Well, Chaser's upcoming book release reminded me that we should put them all in one place here, so that we (or anyone else looking for a canine science book or fourteen) could find them easily if needed. Science Book A DayIn no particular order, here they are: McGreevy (2009) A Modern Dog’s Life. A fabulous book, written with humour and insight, that offers a modern take on what challenges and motivates our dogs and how we can best meet their needs.http://doyoubelieveindog.blogspot.com/2012/09/todays-favorites-paul-mcgreevys-books.htmlSearch to purchase: http://booko.com.au/9781742231051/A-Modern-Dog-s-LifeHorowitz (2009) Inside of a Dog.What’s it like to be a dog? This book covers the science of how dogs think and perceive the world and is accompanied by personal reflections on Horowitz’s own dog’s behaviour. Get to know the umwelt of the dog.http://doyoubelieveindog.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/tis-season-to-be-doggy-fa-la-la-la-laaaa.htmlSearch to purchase: http://booko.com.au/9781451672756/Inside-of-a-Dog Bradshaw (2012) Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet.This recent publication answers the very important question: “What’s good for dogs?” Exp... Read more »

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You know it’s not only you and me who are constantly evolving by adjusting to our living environment; There are millions of others too who are doing this job as efficiently as it could be. Researchers from University of Illinois have discovered that gut bacteria facilitate the adaptation of the western corn rootworm, which is basically a beetle, to crop rotation.... Read more »

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